The Past is in the Past
by szhismine
Summary: a 5000 year old ship is trapped in a black hole and the andromeda rescues it and the poeple inside! anyway, read to find out.part one of the trilogy!


The Past is in the Past  
  
Disclaimer: Andromeda isn't mine, etc. I only own Saratoga and Bliss. The book ' The Gemini Game' doesn't belong to me either, nor does any of the characters in it.   
Spoilers:none  
Rating: PG to PG-13  
Summary: There is a rumor of a ship, the [I]Inquistor[/I], stuck in the event horizon of a black hole, and it has been there for over three thousand years. The crew of the Andromeda discover the ship, and pull it out. The two people on the [I]Inquisitor[/I], however, are not to happy about it.  
Author's Note: Inspired by a game my friend and I play. First part of a trilogy! It is during season one.  
**********************************************************  
  
Prologue: Earth year 2050. (Commonwealth Year 5017)  
  
"What are you reading?" Bliss asked the silent figure before her.  
  
Saratoga Kent was in the pilots chair, reading a book. She was the feisty blond who had made this ship. Her, and her loyal friends had designed and built the [I]Inquisitor[/I], the most amazing ship Earth has ever seen. It was built to explore the galaxy, and the alien homeworlds whom Earthlings have just discovered. The first aliens they encountered, the Perseids, were more than happy to share new technology, allowing Earth to become a goldmine. Many species would come to Earth, visit the leaders of the world, making allies. Earth was never more prosperous. Since the Perseid ship landed in Boston, Massachussets, twenty-five years earlier, everyone had been happy and in peace.  
  
Saratoga lifted at the cover of the book, showing it to Bliss. "It's called 'The Gemini Game'. It's the first hand account about the two twins who owned the Gemini Corporation."  
  
"The twins who made virtual reality games thirty years ago?"  
  
"Right. They were falsely accused for making dangerous, lethal copies of one of their games. It put people into comas. They became fugitives, and sought for help in a crumbling city where poor people live. They found the guy who invented virtual reality itself, Aaron Harper, and his daughter Ariel."  
  
"Harper? Isn't that your boyfriends last name?"  
  
"Yeah. It's also the last name of his brother who you happen to have a crush on. "  
  
Bliss made a face. "Anyway . . . where are we going?"  
  
"To . . . the Achniron system. It's a system the heavy-gravity worlders talked about to General Khisvolky . Sounds interesting. We'll be there in a few days."  
  
Bliss was about to say something when the ship lurched forward, and warning klaxons sounded.  
  
"[B]Warning. Starboard engine failure in ninety seconds. Warning . . .[/B]"  
  
"Crap!" Saratoga yelled, and dashed out of the pilot's seat. She dashed up the ladder and pressed a few buttons. The warnings subsided, but the red lights were still flashing. Saratoga jumped off the ladder and ran into the engine room. She liked the engine room. It was how her and her boyfriend James first met; they both had a habit of fixing things. She twiddled with a few knobs and buttons, and the lights stopped flashing too. Saratoga sighed in relief. Bliss walked up next to her. "What do you think happened?" She asked.  
  
Saratoga shook her head. "I'm not sure," she said. She looked at the new readout's on the computer screen. "Looks like some gravitational distortion temporarily screwed up the engine, but I don't see how."  
  
"What kind of gravitational distortion? We're in space, there can't be a gravitational distortion, 'cause there's no gravity in space and . . ."  
  
"Okay, shut up already and stop panicing. There is gravity in space, such as in a planet, or a moon, or asteroids, etc. But there's only one gravitational force that can really screw things up."  
  
"And what would that be?"  
  
"A black hole."  
  
Bliss let out a yelp. "Black hole? [I]Black Hole[/I]? We're headed towards a black hole?"  
  
"Yes, and unfourtunately we can't do anything about it."  
  
"So we're going to get sucked into oblivion?"  
  
"Not necessarily. We have enough engine power to only be on the edge of the event horizon."  
  
"Does that mean we'll be frozen in time?"  
  
"No. The engines will run out about one thousand kilometers before the event horizon. We'll be trapped there. And because of the AG fields, we won't age. So as long as we're trapped next to the event horizon . . ."  
  
"We'll live." Bliss finished. "But what if we never get rescued?"  
  
"Then we'll be pretty bored." Saratoga replied.  
  
*********************  
  
Commonwealth Year 10,088  
  
"So, you want to go to the Achniron system?" Beka asked, puzzled. Dylan had the idea to go there to see if they wanted to join the Commonwealth.  
  
"Dylan, no one at Achniron would want to sign the Commanwealth charter." Beka said.  
  
"We can go anyway," Dylan suggested.  
  
"That's not a bad idea," a voice said from the pilot's chair.  
  
The crew of the Andromeda spun around. Harper was sitting in the pilot's chair, reading what looked like a very old journal.  
  
"What are you reading?" Tyr asked, confused.  
  
Harper hopped off the chair. "The journal of my great many times grandfather, James Harper. He lived when the Persieds first made contact with Earth."  
  
"Five thousand years ago?" Beka asked, shocked.  
  
"Impressive." Tyr commented.  
  
Harper rolled his eyes. "Anyway, he wrote that he had a girlfriend who built a ship called the Inquisitor."  
  
"I heard tales about that ship," Dylan intervened. "It was built after the Perseids landed on Earth."  
  
"James Harper helped build that ship," Harper said, rather proudly.   
  
"Saratoga Kent and her friend Bliss went in that ship to try to reach the Achniron system, but they got stopped by a black hole. There are rumors that the Inquisitor is near the event horizon. But here's the strange part: Saratoga and Bliss never died, but they're not frozen in time like Dylan was."  
  
"And you think we should get that ship?" Trance asked.   
  
"It's worth a shot." Harper replied.  
  
"And, if the legend is true, Saratoga and Bliss should have a chance to live among all the sites the universe has to offer," Rev Bem added.  
  
"Rev, they're from five thousand years ago. They won't know about all the alien races, or technology, or even language and writing." Beka argued.  
  
"They might. Maybe they could intercept news, messages, transmissions . . ." Trance suggested.  
  
"Come on, it'll be fun." Harper whined. "We would be able to learn a lot about the past."  
  
"And it's not like we have much else to do," Beka agreed.   
  
Dylan glanced at Trance. "It would be kind of fun," Trance admitted.   
  
Dylan sighed. "Fine. Let's go do some salvage work." The crew of the Andromeda grinned.   
  
When they arrived at the black hole just before the Achniron system, they felt the gravitational distortions immediately. The ship shook when they exited slipstream.  
  
"Looks like the black hole got bigger in the last century," Beka commented. It was a regular black hole, a bit bigger than the others.  
  
"Are they supposed to be that big?" Harper asked.  
  
"No," Tyr replied.  
  
"Looks like we're gonna have to take the Maru out," Beka suggested.  
  
"Good idea. Beka, Harper, come with me. Rommie, you have the bridge," Dylan commanded. He, Beka and Harper left the bridge and headed towards the Maru.  
  
"Why are we risking our lives to salvage a five thousand year old ship?" Tyr asked Rommie.  
  
"Because it could be very interesting," Rommie replied.  
  
Twenty minutes later, Beka was in position to pull the Inquisitor out of the black hole. Harper was getting the engines ready, and Dylan was watching Beka with interest.   
  
"Can you pull this off?"   
  
Beka gave him a patronising look. "I pulled you out of a black hole, didn't I?" Dylan didn't reply.  
  
Ten minutes later, everything was ready. The Maru shook a bit as they got closer.  
  
"Harper, more power to the engines," Beka yelled into her headset.  
  
"I'm working on it, i'm working on it," Harper yelled back. He pressed a few buttons and the secondary power unit was up.  
  
"There's your stupid power," Harper yelled.  
  
"Dylan, get the cables ready," Beka ordered.  
  
"Cables ready," Dylan replied.  
  
"Fire!" The cables shot out of the Maru and wound themselves around the Inquisitor.  
  
Inside the Inquisitor, Saratoga and Bliss felt the ship shake, interupting their game of chess.  
  
"What was that?" Bliss asked nervously.  
  
Saratoga checked the monitor. "I don't believe it," she muttered.   
  
"What?" Bliss asked.  
  
"Someone is pulling us away from the black hole," Saratoga exclaimed.  
  
"Uh, I hate to tell you, but what if their intentions aren't entirely . . . nice?"  
  
Saratoga shrugged. "Well, they aren't selling or dis-ensembling this ship, that's for sure."  
  
"Got it!" Beka exclaimed. They had pulled the Inquisitor from the black hole after ten tense minutes.  
  
"That wasn't hard," Dylan said, relieved.   
  
Harper strode in the cockpit. "So, when are we gonna board the Inquisitor?"  
  
"Now," Beka replied.  
  
"Saratoga, they're docking," Bliss whined.  
  
"I know, I know, shut up already." Saratoga exclaimed.  
  
"Bliss, go in the cockpit," Saratoga ordered.  
  
"But . . . won't they go there first?"   
  
"Yup."  
  
"But--"  
  
"Bliss, just shut up and do what I tell you!" Saratoga yelled. She turned and headed for engineering. Bliss slowly sat in the pilot's chair.  
  
When they entered the airlock, they looked around. It seemed like a regular ship, but it's design was older.  
  
"Nice," Beka murmured.  
  
"There are two lifesigns," Dylan said.  
  
"Let's head for the cockpit," Beka suggested.   
  
"Won't they think that's where we'll go first?" Harper asked.  
  
"Probably," Dylan agreed. "But we should stay together. It's a pretty big ship, Saratoga and Bliss could be anywhere."   
  
"And according to the journal, Saratoga always has a plan, and they always work." Harper mentioned.  
  
"Then everyone, keep your eyes open," Dylan commented.  
  
Unknown to them, Saratoga was watching them above the rafters, with a menacing look on her face.  
  
When they reached the cockpit, they saw Bliss pacing around, mumbling angrily.  
  
"She thinks she's so smart, her and her ideas, but she's not, she's the one responsible for getting us stuck her in the first place--ack!" she shrieked when she saw Dylan and the others.  
  
"What do you want?" she asked in a squeaky voice.  
  
"I'm Captain Dylan Hunt of the High Guard vessel Andromeda Ascendant. We're here to help you."  
  
Bliss gaped. It's been so long since she talked with someone else. "I know who you are," she blurted out.  
  
"You do? How?"  
  
"Saratoga rigged our communicator so we can get messages for other people, copy them, and send them back out. Quite resourceful. Especially since we can't contact anyone ourselves."  
  
Dylan nodded. "Where is Saratoga?"  
  
Bliss shrugged. "Off somewhere, doing something to the ship. But I should warn you. She comes up with ideas pretty fast, and they usually work."   
  
Saratoga was listening to their conversation. She was perched on the rafters, hidden in the dark. See, she had not wasted all her long years. Instead of feeling sorry for herself, she got creative. She turned the old storage room into her own personal gym. She climbed all around the bars, the rafters, the railings . . . it didn't take her long to learn all the nooks and crannies around the ship. She could do any maneouver, any repair, and all in secret. She didn't tell Bliss anything and forbade her to go into the storage room. And she still couldn't get out of the black hole. She became a spy expert, and she kept improving herself. She felt practically invincible. So when Bliss and Dylan were talking, she got an idea.  
  
"Whoh, is this a hunk of junk or what?" Harper exclaimed as he and Bliss entered the slipstream core. It was almost completely destroyed; it lay in several different pieces across the room.  
  
"Normally this would take months to repair. But luckily for you, I'm a freaking genius," he joked, and began rummaging around in his toolbelt.  
  
Bliss frowned. "You sound familiar."  
  
Harper turned on the spot. "Really, well that's interesting, considering we've [I]never met[/I]."  
  
Bliss shook her head. "No, it's not you. It's someone I used to know."  
  
Harper thought for a few seconds, then it dawned on him.  
  
"Are you talking about James Harper?"  
  
Bliss looked up, surprised. "How did you . . ."  
  
"My name is Seamus Harper, but you can call me Harper."  
  
Bliss smiled and squatted down next to a broken conduit. Harper sat next to her, with a nano-welder in his hand.  
  
"Saratoga would be pleased to meet a relative of her old boyfriend." Bliss commented  
  
Harper smiled and turned his welder on. "Speaking of Saratoga," he started while welding two metal plates together, "what is she like?"  
  
Bliss smiled. "You would really like her. She's smart, resourceful, and a real fast talker. And she can fix almost anything."  
  
"Then why is this slipstream drive smashed to bits?" he yelled over the sound on his nano-welder.  
  
"She got angry because of it. It annoyed her that it would just sit there not doing anything. She smashed it to bits and never came here again."  
  
Harper turned his nano-welder off and looked at Bliss with a strange look on his face. "You're not androids, are you?"  
  
Bliss frowned. "Why would I be?"  
  
Harper turned his nano-welder back on and kept working on the console. "Because there was this one time . . ."  
  
"So, Beka, what do you think?" Dylan asked her.  
  
"I think we're ready to pull this baby out of the black hole."  
  
"Not so fast," a voice said behind them. Dylan and Beka spun around quickly, guns drawn.  
  
"Not before you tell me your true intentions," Alexia threatened with an angry voice, gun raised.  
  
"So, you're telling me that you're rescuing us out of the good of your heart?" Alexia asked after Dylan, Beka, and Harper explained their case.  
  
"Well . . . basically yes, but our ship could use additional members." Dylan said.  
  
Alexia raised her eyebrow. "You want us to join you?"  
  
"Why not? After doing nothing for 5000 years I would think you would be up to it. And it's a chance to do something worthwhile."  
  
Alexia glanced at Bliss, who remained remotely silent.  
  
"Well . . . we don't have much else to do." she stated. Bliss grinned.   
  
"Wow," was all Alexia could say when she arrived on the Andromeda.   
  
"Double wow," Bliss agreed when she entered through the airlock.   
  
"Captain Hunt, this is an impressive ship," Alexia commented.   
  
"Why thank you," Rommie replied as she entered the room. "I'm Andromeda, the avatar of this ship. You may call me Rommie. This is Tyr and Trance," she introduced. Alexia and Bliss nodded politely. They had a feeling their lives were about to get better.  
  
TBC   
well, this is the first chapter. it's kinda long, but anyway... 


End file.
